Page 5 of Bonds of Hate

Tarnished gold eyes, beautifully cold, train on me like a bird of prey sighting a shivering mouse in the tall grass.

I push myself up with my legs folded underneath me, a classic submissive pose taught to us at the Enclave. This is a test, I remind myself. Just like the hundreds of tests I’ve taken and passed during my training.

If an Alpha voice were enough to break me, then I wouldn’t have gotten this far.

I will make this work because I have to.

I’d like to think that Charlotte didn’t know exactly howthat stipend worked before she shipped me off to the Enclave. The money she received wasn’t just some government largesse.

It wasn’t a gift.

Alphas pay the Enclave a pretty penny to have an Omega placed with them, repaying the debt incurred by the stipend and years of other expenses incurred by taking care of us. Even a prince can’t get something for nothing.

It’s basically impossible for an Omega to not be eventually chosen by an Alpha. There are too few of us and too many rich Alphas slathering for the chance. But an Omega can refuse to be mated, go her own way after graduation, not accepting anyone who might have offered for her.

As long as she can pay off the considerable debt she accrued over the years.

I’ve never been told an exact number, but all of us know the amount has to be eye-watering. So much so that only the richest Alphas can afford it. If an Enclave Omega somehow found a job after graduation, she could work her whole life and still not make enough to pay back that debt.

I will make this work because I have no other choice.

My hands clench in my lap, fingernails biting into the skin hard enough to leave marks. “You’re right. My apologies, Prince Logan.”

They all laugh at that. I inwardly cringe, resisting the urge to curl in on myself in shame. The intensity of their attention isn’t something I had prepared for. I feel like a specimen under a microscope, just waiting to have its insides dissected and examined.

Logan lowers his eyes, gaze skirting over my body and lingering on the swell of my hips. “So, you do have a littlefire in you. I would have thought the Enclave had stomped out all of that. Never once met an Omega from there with any personality.”

My lip quirks at that, thinking about the girls I know. “We clearly haven’t met the same Omegas.”

A flash of amusement lightens his eyes to a luminescent amber, unlike any other color I’ve ever seen. Genuine humor brightens his face, bringing life to the carved stone of his features. For a moment, he seems very human.

But the amusement vanishes as quickly as it came. His expression turning hard as granite as he surveys me.

“I’ve met plenty. Simpering simpletons with no passion outside of compelled urges.” Cool fingers stroke my cheek, the touch so gentle that I barely feel it. He grips my chin and brings his mouth so close to mine that I taste clove as he exhales. His whisper ghosts across my lips, making me shiver in unwilling response. “The real question is if you’re any different.”

I swallow past the painful lump in my throat. “I don’t understand.”

“My apologies for you using my voice. You’re right about that being inappropriate. But I want to know what you’ll do when no one is forcing you into it.” Logan smiles, but the expression doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m looking for something very…specific in a potential mate. So we’re going to conduct a small trial to see if you’re up for the job.”

Anxiety curdles in my gut like rotten milk. I feel like I might vomit if I stay kneeling on this floor for even one more second.

But I won’t run from this. Not when the alternative is returning to the Enclave in disgrace. No other Alpha worththe name will want me if they find out Prince Logan has rejected me.

I have to see this through.

“It’s my contention that Omegas are all the same. Submission comes too naturally for them. They might do what I want them to do, but only because they have no choice.” Logan’s tone is conversational, even as his stroking fingers continue their path down my cheek to my neck, lingering in the sensitive hollow just above my pulse. “But I’ll give you a chance to prove me wrong, if you like.”

Quick as a striking cobra, his hand wraps around my throat. Not exactly squeezing, but with enough pressure that the shock of it robs of me of my next breath.

Ares’s disembodied voice floats from my periphery. “Her nipples are so hard they’re about to poke holes in that fancy dress.”

The others have shifted to new positions in the room, most likely for a better vantage point. I want to keep track of their movements, but don’t dare look away from the Alpha who has his hand wrapped around my throat.

You never take your eyes off the predator that has you caught in a trap.

Poe emerges from the shadows just over Logan’s shoulder. His expression is empty, entirely detached, as if he is studying a boring piece of art on the wall. “Makes sense. Everyone knows all Omegas are whores.”

Anger momentarily overwhelms my fear. I open my mouth to make some retort, but the hand around my throat tightens. But only for a moment. A warning.

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